subscribe

Pages

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

As the news continues to pour in about the shocking loss of life (estimated in the tens of thousands now) and wide-spread destruction following the quake in Haiti this week, I hope you Wreckies will consider donating to one of the many relief organizations providing aid there.

Unfortunately there are a lot of scammers popping up, though, so do be careful where you give. Charity Navigator has a great list of trustworthy organizations here, which includes our previously featured Doctors Without Borders.

For an easy way to donate to the Red Cross, you can text “Haiti” to 90999 and $10 will be added to your next phone bill. (Over $1 million raised this way as of this writing.)

I know a lot of you can't afford to give much. That's Ok! As we saw from the Charity Countdown, it only takes each of us giving a little to accomplish a lot together. So let's give what we can, spread the word, and say a prayer for this poor country and the heroes working there on the ground.

(Our Doctors Without Borders First Giving page is still up, and there's no minimum donation required. Only have a buck to give? Then please, give it here.)

God bless you, Jen and John! This is so sad and tragic, and my heart goes out to the Haitians. I was just wondering how best to help. Your post reminded me to just help! Give to one or more reputable organizations and pray for them. Thanks for pulling us together and reminding us that as a community we can accomplish much. I'll do the text giving, the Doctors without Borders, and the Red Cross for starters.

Jen and John, you make us: chortle, snigger, snort, guffaw, gag, gasp, giggle, dream, discombobulated, bewildered, educated, confused and happy. It is amazing that you also know how to keep it in perspective and remind us what is really important. thank you for making us think.

State Department is recommending Red Cross and MercyCorps (as seen here: http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/disaster_haiti )

Lots of folks have been wanting to volunteer with donations of items, but most organizations are asking for people NOT to send items, they need cash to spend there, or near there, to cut down on transportation costs. http://cidi.org/media/faq.htm

I sent my donation to Partners In Health. PIH was founded by Paul Farmer, a physician and anthropologist at Harvard, and it's one of the most effective medical aid organizations in the world. They've been on the ground in Haiti for a long time, and their people are already working to help. PIH also gets 4 stars on www.charitynavigator.org.

Thank you both so much for posting this and promoting relief efforts like this! I've added the link to my own various outlets online, but I only have the link because of you. Keep spreading the word, you two! We love you for it.

I would recommend donating to organizations other than the Red Cross. The national American Red Cross organization is notoriously corrupt and dishonest, and your money is better off being given to more honest causes.

A lucky coincidence in Finland: the target for the annual charity campaign Common responsibility (that's Yhteisvastuukeräys for any of you Finnish readers) is Haiti. Therefore all the necessary connections for delivering the aid to Haiti through FinnChucrhAid were ready.

The campaign and the collection were planned to start in February, but because of the catastrophy we were able to open the collection accounts early.

The info on how to donate is available in Finnish and Swedish here: www.yhteisvastuu.fi.

English summary: http://www.yhteisvastuu.fi/index.php?fid=180

Also international donations are possible.Account 208918-6775IBAN: FI1620891800006775SWIFT: NDEAFIHH

Thank you Jen and John for bringing such joy to us all - and also for reacting rapidly and responsibly in these more serious matters. God bless.

Just leaving something here for you guys...red cross is great to donate to, don't get me wrong, but I remember that my Girl Scout Troop (hahaha) wouldn't donate to them because we found out those who the funds were for got barely any of the money. Do your research, find a sponsor or w/e that will give most if not all of the funds to those who need it :)

If $10 is more than you can afford right now, you can donate $5 by texting YELE to 501501. Yele Haiti is a non-profit organization run by singer/songwriter Wyclef Jean. You can visit yele.org for more information.

A text message takes less than 1 minute. If you can afford it, please, please, please give what you can to the charity of your choice.

Hey, Thank You! for making Haiti's need known on your blog. I lived there after I finished school and I don't know if my Haitian friends are alright or not. My American friend had flown in on Monday and was in the middle of the quake but it ok right now. It is hard to be watching this from the Midwest right now. But, thanks for giving an opportunity to which the blog world can respond.PS see pics of my time there at my flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/bjdenbow

Thanks to the Canadian readers posting the Canadian links for donations. I'll be donating what I can.

In the meantime, many of my friends and neighbours are proudly going husbandless for the next little while as their hubbies are deploying to Haiti as part of the Canadian Forces Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART).

I gave my $10 to the Red Cross International Relief fund this morning. My first thought was "$10 isn't going to make much difference", but then I read about the millon dollar texting campaign. It just proves that if everyone takes a few minutes from their day, we can make a differance!

My heart goes out to the people of Haiti. May relief come on swift wings.

Ah Jenn, I knew you wouldn't disappoint! I clicked on this site fully expecting to see a push for aid to Haiti, go you!:-D

There's also Yele Haiti, an organization founded by musician and humanitarian Wyclef Jean who's from Haiti and has often been upfront and vocal about helping his people over the years. You can donate $5 by texting YELE to 501501 or get more info by visiting www.yele.org.

Sending prayers and positive vibes to those poor people and hugs to anyone here who might be searching and waiting to hear word about loved ones.

Thank you for posting this. My husband and I are adopting two precious girls, Islande, 9, and Katiana, 5, from an orphanage in PAP. We've been in process for nearly 3 years and were hoping to bring home our girls in a few months. That is unlikely at this point, barring a miracle (but I serve a BIG GOD and HE can do it!). Our orphanage, Maison des Enfants de Dieu, cares for more than 130 children and employs 90 staff. Clean water, food, medicines and fuel are of utmost importance at this point. The creche also hopes to become a place of refuge for the birth parents and neighbors. If anyone would like to donate directly to our creche, the site is http://www.forhisgloryoutreach.org/earthquake_relief For His Glory is the American support ministry. Blessings to you all!!!Jodie

I almost donated through Firstgiving until I noticed that they are keeping 7.5%. That seems like a lot to me so maybe the other sites are a better ide?Still, It's awesome that you posted on this because it caught my attention and I *will* be donating in some way.Thanks!!

Another friend also recommended Partners in Health. She wrote "In addition to an innovative model practicing the preferential option for the poor, PIH makes great use of its gifts...according to Charity Navigator, only about 5% goes to overhead. Also, because it is based in rural areas around the... country, many of its hospitals and medical personnel still stand after the quake." http://www.pih.org

I wanted to donate through the link to Firstgiving but discovered that they are keeping 7.5% which seems like a bit much to me. Still, I think it's great that you posted on this because it got my attention and I will be making a donation somehow.Thanks!Janet

Jen, having seen you raise so much through $1 donations was what got me to get online and donate last night. Faced with such an overwhelming tragedy, it's easy to say "my little $20 can't do much / won't be missed," but you already proved that WRONG!

The Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders are great causes. Another one to check out is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Through their charity LDS Philanthropies 100% of your donation will go to helping those in need. You can read about their efforts and donate at:

Thank you for the links -- and for the info on the texting. I really appreciated the link for the list of charities too. You make it so easy to give (lol, almost too easy...get a little carried away and should check the budget first, lol) and I am grateful for the opportunity to help those in need. Thank you so much for helping us to help!!

I did try DWB first at their website but objected to the mandatory email list sign up. So I donated through the UN.I forgot to check here first...but in any case, kudos to you for doing this.Now I am going see if I can put a widget for this on my blog.

Thank you for posting this! We donated to the American Red Cross for international relief yesterday. My heart breaks every time I hear a news story about Haiti. Giving money is the best way to help right now.

Thanks for posting this Jen and John. I just read the Yarn Harlot's post on Doctors Without Borders, went to the site and donated and now you've suggested it as well. While I would have loved to see some wreckful cakes, I'm even more happy to see this pop up on my reader this morning instead.

Thanks you for this.. I have three very close friends over there. They got there just before the Earthquake hit... They went down to visit an orphanage they work with, and are over there with low supplies and water, trying to pick up the pieces... Thank you for drawing attention to this issue and raising awareness.

One more time, I'm at a computer and without my credit card, and ready to drop some cash to help someone who asks for it, and once again my donation is not wanted because I can only do it through PayPal.

Want to do something good for DwB? Set them up a PayPal account! How many thousands of dollars have to be lost this way before nonprofits GET IT? Make it easy for someone to donate, you'll get more donations. It's not rocket science, folks!

I broke from the bog to let my readers know of the humanitarian aid needed for those poor Haitians - Disney allocated $100,000 to the Red Cross and I'm proud to include that in my special blog post. I'll likely donate through church collection.

Thanks for the info, I would also suggest UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief). They have been in Haiti for years and after the first wave of help has come and gone Methodist churches contine to send workteams. I know from personal experience that you work on those teams! But you also get ice cream :).

Also keep in mind that the ARC will be sending its blood supplies to Haiti. That means, for those of us who are blood donors, it's extremely important to keep up the donations, so the ARC and regional blood banks can keep on covering local needs.

The Canadian Gov't will match DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR, EVERY donation made to a registered charity in Canada, until Feb 12 or up to $50 MILLION. Please, fellow Canucks, let's do our part and show Haiti WE CARE! I gave up the next month's coffee money and donated to the Red Cross. Doctors Without Borders and WorldVision are also accepting donations online.

Speaking as a Red Cross employee, thank you all so much! Little donations make a huge difference - we were told in a meeting yesterday that the text $10 campaign alone has raised over four million dollars. As of this morning, it's up to eight million. And that's just one of many, many places where people are currently giving.

We don't need people or supplies right now - we can't even get ones we've already got into Port-au-Prince yet - but small donations from a large number of people really adds up. And keep in mind that the Red Cross and other charities will be there for years trying to rebuild. We're still working on tsunami damage from 2004. This is going to be a long haul, so even if you can't donate now, please remember us in the future.

We donated to help. I love how technology is being used for good in this situation! Between being able to text donations and all the blog posts helping to draw more attention and spread the word and encourage people to donate I am sure there are more donations occurring than there would have been otherwise.

I would encourage people to donate to organizations that have long been established in Haiti, and will be there long after the initial outpouring of aid stops flowing, like Harvest International missionaries (http://www.harvestinternational.org/rodwray.html) They are doing amazing work in parts of Haiti that so far have received little aid and no media attention. Other groups that are well established in Haiti, as mentioned, are Partners in Health and Doctors Without Borders. I just got back from Haiti Monday, and the need is immense and will continue to be so for a people who had almost nothing before the earthquake, and have less now.

Search This Blog

Wreck the Halls

NEW! Pre-Order Today!

Buy the Book

Buy the NYT Bestseller

What's a Wreck?

What's a Wreck?

A Cake Wreck is any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate - you name it. A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a Wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected, sugar-filled places.

order

Where's the book?

We don’t have any copies of Cake Wrecks for sale here, autographed or otherwise. We decided the shipping and handling costs would be too high to make it worth your while. So instead, buy your copies locally or online and then order personalized bookplates: it’s cheaper, easier, and I think even looks a bit nicer.

Ordering Info

Payments must be made through Paypal, which accepts all major credit cards. Sorry, but that means no checks or MOs or barter-based chickens.

We ship everything first class USPS, and will do our best to have your package in the mail within 2 days of your order.